I’m still on my mung bean bullsh*t (pardon my French) despite a little bit of a break. I went from developing recipes to building this website to visiting Montana to hurriedly gardening (I’m always late to start) back to mung beans!
You might think American grocery stores have a lot of “frozen novelties” lining their freezer shelves, and while I do have very fond memories of eating Big Sticks and red, white, and blue rocket pops after my elementary school’s “fun run,” Asian frozen desserts truly are in a league of their own.
Some of the best frozen desserts I’ve come across while traveling Asia, in no particular order: corn-shaped corn ice cream in Korea, jaw-beaker-sized grape “popsicle balls” in Taiwan and Japan, and wafer-wrapped pockets of roasted soy bean powder (kinako) ice cream in Hong Kong. And as a self-proclaimed Haagen-Dazs girlie, my GOD if you have not experienced the bounty that is the Haagen-Dazs catalog of flavors in Asia, you are truly missing out. (In case you don’t know, Haagen-Dazs is owned by a different parent company in Asia than the US, which is why the flavors are so different. And for some reason Asian people, myself included, go absolutely gaga for Haagen-Dazs.)
But as a kid, the most basic frozen desserts that we kept stocked in our freezer alongside the quart-sized tub of Breyer’s, were Melona bars, Samanco taiyaki ice cream sandwiches with red bean (the kind that look like a fish), and red bean popsicles. Of the three, red bean popsicles were definitely my least favorite, but I found them tolerable. What I didn’t know until I was much older was that I could’ve been eating mung bean popsicles that whole time.
Mung bean, in my humble opinion, is a far superior dessert bean to red bean. While skin-on “green beans” (not to be confused with the long skinny American kind of green bean) do appear in Chinese desserts like bean soup, I’m talking about the split and peeled yellow-y version: the same bean without its fibrous exterior.
Because mung beans are split and peeled, they lend a super creamy texture to desserts when handled properly. In some applications they almost remind me of the flavor and texture of sweet potatoes if sweet potatoes were not very sweet. When blended together with coconut milk and sugar as they are in this recipe, the net result is a creamy frozen dessert with an almost pudding-like mouth feel that’s somehow both decadent and light. My recipe includes evaporated milk to give the resulting pops an even creamier texture, but this can be subbed for additional coconut milk added at the end, or — though I have not tried myself — I’m sure most other alternative milks would work just fine, you’ll just need to make sure you add a little bit of extra sugar if your mylks are unsweetened.
I’m also deeply not a fan of “counting macros” in my own cooking and I’m personally a bit skeptical of all the hype around protein (generations of people lived just fine without protein powder! I said what I said!), BUT if I had to guess, I’d guess that these popsicles have a little more protein and a little more fiber than your average popsicle, again due to the beans. If you choose to go the route with added frozen corn too, that’s even more fiber. If luring you in with possible health benefits is what it takes to get you to try these, then so be it.
Some quick notes on the ingredients you’ll need:
Coconut Milk
There are a million different products out there that go by the name “coconut milk,” but in this recipe I’m referring to the canned kind. I always prefer to opt for brands that don’t include stabilizers and gums, which means you’ll need to shake the can well to make sure there’s no separation. I’m also not really a fan of “lite” coconut milk, so you’ll want to use the full-fat version here, but don’t confuse that with coconut cream.
My two favorite brands right now are Chaokoh (a classic) and Trader Joe’s organic coconut milk.
Mung Beans
Be sure to use split peeled mung beans in this recipe, the kind that look yellow. These are available at just about any East and South Asian grocery store you can find (except maybe a Japanese market), usually with the dried grains and beans. If you’re trying to avoid red and yellow dyes, be careful because some brands do artificially dye their mung beans to make them look more appealing (to whom I’m not sure). When you soak the beans much of the dye seems to come out into the water, which you’ll discard, but I’m not a food scientist so I can’t say whether any of the dye will linger.
Pandan (Leaves & Extract)
Pandan (also called screwpine leaf) is a leaf found in Southeast Asia and used in a lot of Southeast Asian desserts. Its flavor is something like a cross between vanilla and sweet corn and it complements the earthiness of mung bean incredibly well. Frozen pandan leaves can be found in most Southeast Asian supermarkets in the frozen section, but if you can’t find any, pandan extract is a good option (though it tends to turn your desserts that super green color you might have seen at Asian bakeries). Pandan extract can be easily found online.
Salt
I’m a huge fan of the combination of salty and sweet you’ll find in a lot of Thai coconut-based desserts (think mango sticky rice). Because of this I tend to go heavier on my salt in this recipe. If you’re not a fan of salty-sweet, you can just scale back the salt in this recipe to your tastes.
Coconut Mung Bean Popsicles
Equipment
- 1 popsicle mold
Ingredients
- 100 g dried mung beans split & peeled
- 400 mL can coconut milk 1 standard can
- 100 g brown sugar
- 1 tsp Diamond brand kosher salt less if you don’t like “salty sweet”
- 354 mL evaporated milk 1 standard can
- A few pandan leaves optional
- 1/4 tsp pandan extract optional
- Frozen corn optional
Instructions
- Soak the dried mung beans in an ample amount of cool water overnight. They will expand by about double, so make sure you use enough water.
- The next day, rinse the beans until the water runs clear and drain them with a sieve.
- Add coconut milk, brown sugar, salt, pandan leaves (but NOT pandan extract), and drained beans to a small pot. Heat on medium until the mixture just starts to boil, then reduce the temperature to low and simmer for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally to ensure nothing sticks to the bottom of the pan. After 30 minutes, the beans should be very soft — if smooshed between your fingers or with a spoon, they should disintegrate.
- Remove the pot from heat and carefully remove and discard pandan leaves. Transfer the bean mixture to a blender and add the evaporated milk. Blend until very smooth. Taste the mixture and add any additional salt or sugar to taste. I prefer mine to have a slight salty-sweet profile, but adjust to your liking.
- Optional: Transfer half the mixture to a container with a spout and add the pandan extract. Mix to combine well.
- Fill your popsicle molds. If you took the optional step, you can layer the green liquid with the cream colored liquid to achieve a swirl effect.
- Optional: As you fill your molds, scatter a couple kernels of fresh or frozen corn between the layers. A little goes a long way.
- Cover the popsicle mold and add your sticks, according to your mold’s instructions. Carefully transfer to the freezer and freeze for at least 12 hours.
- To demold, first try squeezing your popsicle molds if they allow. Otherwise, dip the bottom of the tray into hot water for just a few seconds, being careful to not get any water inside the molds.